The organization of the doctoral studies

Doctoral university studies represent the third cycle of university studies and allow for obtaining a qualification at level 8 in the European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (EQF/CEC) and in the National Qualifications Framework.
Admission to doctoral university studies is based on an examination organized by Babeș-Bolyai University, through the Institute of Doctoral Studies.

Only graduates who hold a master’s degree or its equivalent are eligible to participate in the doctoral admission competition, and the total number of transferable study credits (ECTS) obtained from the bachelor’s and master’s cycles must be at least 300. According to the provisions of the Law no. 199 of 4 July 2023 of Higher Education, with subsequent amendments and completions, the bachelor’s diploma of graduates of long-term higher education programs from before the application of the three Bologna cycles is equivalent to the master’s diploma in the respective field. The total combined duration of the bachelor’s and master’s cycles must therefore be at least 300 transferable credits (ECTS).

According to the law, a person can benefit from state budget funding for only one doctoral program.

During registration for the admission competition, the candidate for doctoral university studies chooses a doctoral supervisor from among those at Babeș-Bolyai University who are offering doctoral student places for that particular admission session and competes for one of the places available under that supervisor.

The doctoral admission competition consists of at least two tests:

• a written specialty test, based on a topic announced by the doctoral supervisor at least two months before the date of the admission competition;
• an interview that examines the candidate’s scientific/artistic interests, their research/artistic-creation skills, and the topic proposed for the doctoral thesis.

Depending on the specifics of the field, other tests (even eliminatory) may be included in the doctoral admission competition, at the request of the tenured doctoral supervisors and with the approval of the doctoral school council. The minimum admission grade is at least 7.00.

The doctoral schools provide doctoral students with an advanced university study program consisting of activities carried out in institutionalized study groups, through courses, seminars, laboratories, and other complementary activities. As part of the advanced university study program, in the first year of doctoral studies, the doctoral student participates in at least 3 doctoral-level disciplines. These disciplines are chosen such that all take place in the same semester of the academic year, lasting 12–14 weeks, which cannot be extended.

The disciplines that a doctoral student must take within the advanced university study program may be chosen from among the disciplines offered by the doctoral school to which the student belongs or by another doctoral school at Babeș-Bolyai University. The annual curriculum plan, developed at the level of each doctoral school, will include relevant disciplines for the doctoral fields in which the doctoral school is accredited by CNATDCU. For each discipline included in the curriculum plan, a certain number of ECTS credits will be allocated in accordance with national legislation on granting credits.

The advanced university study program includes a mandatory discipline on ethics and academic integrity, including scientific research ethics, which all enrolled doctoral students must take. The other compulsory disciplines to be chosen in the advanced study program will be selected from the curriculum plan.

Passing the compulsory disciplines selected in the advanced university study program is concluded with an evaluation format established at the level of each doctoral school and leads to obtaining 30 ECTS credits.

If the doctoral student has not obtained the minimum 30 compulsory credits for the compulsory disciplines in the study program, the doctoral supervisor draws up a proposal for expulsion (withdrawal) and requests the opinion of the doctoral school council for the student’s expulsion. This request, signed by the supervisor and endorsed by the doctoral school council, will be submitted for the endorsement of the CSUD director within 10 days after the conclusion of the advanced study year.

The main objective of the individual scientific research/artistic-creation program is the development by the doctoral student of the doctoral thesis. Responsibility for the structure, content, implementation, and organization of this program rests with the doctoral supervisor. The doctoral student, together with the doctoral supervisor, decides to present the progress made regarding the doctoral thesis before the guidance and academic integrity committee at least once every 12 months, in an oral presentation.

To ensure a coherent scientific/artistic-creation track for the doctoral student, the following activities are planned within the individual scientific research/artistic-creation program:

1. First Year of Doctoral Studies: The doctoral student presents the scientific research/artistic-creation project for completing the doctoral thesis. Receiving the “admis” (pass) grade for this activity leads to earning 30 ECTS.
2. Second, Third, and Fourth Years of Doctoral Studies: Each year, the doctoral student presents a research/artistic-creation report about their progress in scientific/artistic-creation work and the results of that activity. For each of these research/artistic-creation reports rated “admis” (pass), 60 ECTS are awarded.
3. If the doctoral thesis defense takes place earlier than the fourth year of studies, the presentation of all three research reports remains mandatory. Their presentation will be moved up accordingly, prior to the start of the pre-defense procedures for the doctoral thesis.

If the oral presentation is failed (“respins”), the doctoral student must revise and re-defend the research project or research report within the same academic year. If the project or research report is again failed at re-defense or if it is not re-defended during the specified period, the doctoral supervisor prepares a proposal for expulsion (withdrawal) and requests the opinion of the doctoral school council for the student’s expulsion. This request, signed by the supervisor and endorsed by the doctoral school council, will be submitted for the endorsement of the CSUD director within 10 days from the date of the second “respins” (fail) or, if the re-defense does not take place, at the latest at the start of the following academic year.

After the pre-defense steps have been completed and the thesis has been made publicly available (as described in the regulations and in the defense procedure), in order to hold the public defense of the doctoral thesis, the doctoral supervisor proposes a committee of specialists, called the doctoral committee. This doctoral committee is proposed by the doctoral supervisor, approved by the doctoral school council, and validated by the CSUD director.

The doctoral committee is made up of at least five members as follows:
a) the committee chair, as the representative of Babeș-Bolyai University;
b) the doctoral supervisor(s);
c) at least three official reviewers (referenți oficiali) from inside or outside the country, who are specialists in the field of the doctoral thesis, selected so that at least two work outside Babeș-Bolyai University.

The public defense of the doctoral thesis is chaired by the chair of the doctoral committee and proceeds as follows:

• presentation of the content of the doctoral thesis by the doctoral student;
• reading of the evaluation reports prepared by the doctoral supervisor(s) and the official reviewers;
• presentation by the committee chair of any opinions submitted in writing to the committee chair by specialists who consulted the thesis or the thesis summary prior to the public defense;
• discussion of the doctoral thesis, during which members of the doctoral committee and the public address questions to the doctoral student.

The discussion (called in other countries defense/défense/Verteidigung/megvédés) of the doctoral thesis is mandatory and is recorded in the minutes of the session. It must constitute the central point of the public defense of the doctoral thesis, with the aim of highlighting the doctoral student’s knowledge of the field addressed and the original elements contained in the thesis. Based on the public defense of the doctoral thesis and taking into account the evaluation reports, the doctoral committee deliberates on the decision to award the doctoral title.

In special circumstances where a state-funded doctoral student (with or without a scholarship) has not completed their individual scientific research program on time or has not defended the doctoral thesis, their doctoral supervisor, with the approval of the doctoral school council, may request an extension of the doctoral program by 2 or 4 academic semesters.

The extension period is granted with the obligation to pay tuition fees for the entire period of the extension, except in cases where:
a) the doctoral student has completed the individual scientific/applied research program and has successfully defended the doctoral thesis before the guidance and integrity committee,
or
b) the doctoral student is included in national or international projects of strategic interest to the university, defined as such by the Scientific Council of UBB and endorsed by the UBB Board of Directors.

For doctoral students enrolled in fee-paying places, the extension is granted on a fee-paying basis, except in the situations mentioned in points (a) and (b) above.
An extension can be granted only once. If this request is not submitted on time, the doctoral student will be expelled, but retains the right to re-enroll under the conditions provided by law. These provisions apply to all categories of doctoral students (state-funded or fee-paying) and to all forms of study. Additional provisions include:
a) During this extension period, the doctoral student does not receive a study scholarship and/or doctoral grant from the relevant ministry and can no longer apply for a study interruption.
b) During the fee-paying extension of the doctoral study program, the doctoral student continues to receive supervision from the doctoral supervisor and the guidance/integrity committee. Their activity is remunerated in accordance with the legal provisions applicable to the doctoral stage.
c) If, at the end of the extension period, the doctoral student has not completed the individual doctoral study program and has not defended the doctoral thesis, the student shall be expelled by decision of the University’s Rector, at the initiative of the Institute of Doctoral Studies.

The Senate of Babeş-Bolyai University establishes, for each academic year, an annual study fee and the doctoral thesis defense fee, on the basis of the faculty councils’ proposals. These fees are made public before the announcement of the admission contest for that academic year. The fees are collected by the faculties.

For the period of doctoral studies, with the exception of the possible periods of interruption, and with the exception of the possible grace period, the tuition paying doctoral student must pay, under conditions set by the University Senate:

1. the study fee for each academic semester, including the semester the public defense of the doctoral thesis falls in;
2. the fee for the defense of the doctoral thesis.

The period of doctoral studies is the period between the enrollment date and the date of the public defense of the doctoral thesis, or the expulsion date. The study fee for one semester of an academic year equals 50% of the annual study fee established by the University Senate for that academic year.

The tuition paying doctoral student would only pay the fee for the 1st semester (respectively for the 2nd semester) of an academic year, if he/she interrupted the doctoral studies at the end of the first semester (respectively resumed the doctoral studies at the beginning of the 2nd semester, subsequent to an interruption).

The tuition paying doctoral student who owes the fee for both semesters of an academic year can pay in full the due amount for the entire academic year (no later than October 15), or at the most in 4 installments, as follows:

1. at least 25% of the due fee to be paid no later than October 15;
2. at least 50% of the due fee to be paid no later than December 05;
3. at least 75% of the due fee to be paid no later than March 15;
4. the entire due amount to be paid no later than May 15.

The tuition paying doctoral student who has to pay the fee for only one semester of a particular academic year can pay the due amount in one installment (no later than October 15 for the 1st semester, respectively no later than March 15, for the 2nd semester), or at the most in 2 installments, as follows:

1. at least 50% of the 1st semester fee to be paid no later than October 15, and the entire amount owed for the 1st semester to be paid no later than December 05;
2. at least 50% of the 2nd semester fee to be paid no later than March 15, and the entire amount owed for the 2nd semester to be paid no later than May 15.

The doctoral studies could also be organized as joint doctorates, and in this case the doctoral student from Babeş-Bolyai University carries out his/her activity under simultaneous supervision of two doctoral supervisors. The second doctoral supervisor will be chosen with the agreement of the first doctoral supervisor, after the doctoral students’ enrollment to Babeş-Bolyai University. The second doctoral supervisor can be a doctoral supervisor with tenure at a Babeş-Bolyai University doctoral school or a doctoral supervisor from any other institution which organizes doctoral studies, from Romania or from a foreign country. If the second doctoral supervisor is from Babeş-Bolyai University, the field of study he/she has the right to supervise has to differ from that of the first supervisor, with the exception of the situation when the first doctoral supervisor reached 65 years of age.

If both doctoral supervisors perform their activity at Babeş-Bolyai University, they will sign a written joint doctorate agreement, with the approval of the director of the doctoral studies council, establishing the responsibilities of each doctoral supervisor.

If the second doctoral supervisor doesn’t perform his/her activity at Babeş-Bolyai University, a written joint doctorate agreement will be signed by Babeş-Bolyai University and the institution where the second supervisor supervises doctoral students. This agreement stipulates the requirements for organizing and carrying out the doctoral studies in each of the two implicated institutions, including the financial obligations, in accordance with their role in the joint doctorate, and with the current legislation.

If both doctoral supervisors perform their supervision activity in Romanian institutions, the agreement mentions which one is the main doctoral supervisor. The doctoral student’s activity will be assigned to the main doctoral supervisor, including the rate setting of the supervisor’s teaching and research activity.